Ecommerce in the UK was worth €153 billion in 2016

Ecommerce in the United Kingdom was worth 133 billion pounds, or 153 billion euros, last year. This corresponds with a 16 percent growth of the industry compared to 2015, when consumers spent 132 billion euros online with UK retailers. This growth was partly due to an increased popularity of mcommerce.

This is revealed by the latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index. These companies predicted beforehand the ecommerce industry in the UK would grow 11 percent during 2016, but it happened to be 16 percent. “The results demonstrate an exception performance for online retail in the UK”, IMRG writes, which by the way thinks this industry will record a further 14 percent growth for 2017.

Smartphone: 54 percent of mobile device sales

The strong growth of ecommerce in the UK was fueled by the continued growth of mcommerce. In December last year, sales made via smartphones increased by 47 percent compared to the same month in December. Sales made on tablets decreased by 3 percent year-on-year. Smartphones have become the most popular mobile device to shop online with: in December 2015, its share of mobile device sales was 39 percent, while it accounted for 54 percent of mobile device sales in December 2016.

When we look at the different product categories, it shows that online sales of accessories increased the most (38 percent), followed by lingerie (33 percent) and gifts (26 percent). “However, the health and beauty sector had a year to forget, with online sales in the category tumbling 3 percent during 2016.”

Note: On Ecommerce News, we write our articles in euros. The source of the article above used pound sterling. We converted all £ prices in € prices, using the current exchange rate (1 British pound = 1.15 Euros).